Un posible nuevo carcharodontosáurido del Cretácico Inferior de Patagonia en el 77th Annual Meeting de la SVP

Entre los trabajos presentados en el pasado 77th Annual Meeting de la SVP, se encontraba este resumen de Rodolfo Coria y colaboradores sobre unos restos de dinosaurio terópodo procedentes de la Formación Mulichinco (Neuquén, Argentina), que podrían representar el carcharodontosaurido más antiguo del registro fósil sudamericano. El resumen es el siguiente:

Skeletal remains corresponding to an adult specimen of an allosauroid theropod (MLLPv-007) were collected in the sandstones of the Mulichinco Formation (Valanginian, Lower Cretaceous of the Neuquén Basin). The specimen includes the tip of the snout, some postdentary bones, vertebrae (cervicals, dorsals, sacrals and caudals), ribs, and fragments of the pelvic girdle. The cervico-dorsal section consists of five complete, articulated vertebrae (the three last cervicals and first two dorsals) with cervical ribs attached. Nine posterior dorsal vertebrae are represented by portions of the neural arches and centra, and are still attached to their ribs. The three preserved sacral vertebra are very pneumatic, and the four articulated caudals are from the middle to distal part of the tail.

The hip elements are fragmentary but include the dorsal margin of the supracetabular blade, the pubic peduncle, and fragments of the pubis. The sculptured lateral surface of the maxilla, the moderately sized cervical epipophyses, the presence of sacral pleurocoels, and the well-developed prespinal laminae in the caudals form a combination of characters present in allosauroid theropods. A preliminary cladistical analysis links this specimen with carcharodontosaurid theropods by having a single unambiguous synapomorphy — a maxilla with a sculptured external surface. These are the first reported theropod remains from the formation, which is associated stratigraphically with dicraeosaurid sauropods and non-hadrosaurid ornithopods. The Bajada Colorada Fm partially overlaps the Mulichinco Formation temporally, and has yielded fragmentary and poorly preserved theropod remains assigned to abelisauroid and megalosaurid theropods.

Thus, the Mulichinco specimen would represent the oldest carcharodontosaurid record from South America, and suggests that the evolutionary history of this clade in the continent is older than thought.

Grant Information: Research supported by grants from PIP-CONICET 0233/0683, University of Río Negro and Municipalidad de Las Lajas (Neuquén) (to R.A.C).

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Más información:

• Referencia:  Coria, R. A.; Currie, P. J.; Ortega, F.; Baiano, M. (2017) A possible carcharodontosaurid theropod record from the Valanginian (Early Cretaceous) of Patagonia, Argentina. 77th Annual Meeting of SVP. Abstract book. Calgary, Canada. 100.